Torn
by sweet.summer.rain
Summary: Two of the people he loved most, one related by blood and the other by friendship. After the breakup, Ron knows he has to choose a side. But...which one does he choose? Ron's feelings about Harry/Ginny. Takes place in the seventh book . Oneshot .


**Ok, just so you all know this mostly takes place in the seventh book, on Harry's seventeenth birthday. No spoilers though.**

**Disclaimer: My name is J.K Rowling and I do own Harry Potter! MWAHAHAHAHA just kidding. I really don't. (Like you didn't know that though...)**

* * *

_Ginny was his sister._

_Harry was his best friend._

It was Harry's birthday, and they- Ron, Hermione and Harry- had just left the kitchen when Ginny had pulled Harry off into her room. Just the two of them. Together. _Alone._

"For goodness' sakes Ron, don't go after them," hissed Hermione, dragging him up the stairs. "It's his birthday, and this is probably the last chance they'll get to-"

"To what?" snapped Ron harshly, a little more harshly than he intended. "_He_ broke it off, remember? There is no 'they' anymore, and they shouldn't be doing anything at all! Dammit, he's already ditched her once." He attempted to free himself from Hermione's grasp.

Hermione let go reluctantly. "Ron, Harry's your best friend. Don't do this."

But Ron was already halfway down the stairs.

_Ginny was his sister._

_He had known about Ginny's crush on Harry for a long time now- had even encouraged it, because honestly, who wouldn't want their best friend to be an official part of the family? -but he hadn't really realized just how serious they were until that summer. That summer, when Ginny wandered around looking pale and- and, well _crushed_ looking. Like a part of her had just died. _

_He hadn't connected it with Harry, though, until Hermione said that Ginny confided in her that Harry had broken off their brief relationship because he, Harry, couldn't keep her safe. And even though he had secretly agreed with Harry, Ron couldn't help but feel the smallest bit of irrational anger at his best friend- for dumping his sister, for being so stupidly_ noble_ all the time, for trying to push away anyone who got close to him. For hurting Ginny, and making her cry._

So he barged into Ginny's room, and sure enough, there they were kissing. Of course they looked guilty as they sprang apart. Harry looked back at Ginny, but she had turned away, and Ron knew from years of experience that she was crying. Ron's anger returned in full force. His little sister was crying over Harry Potter, _again. _So he forced Harry out of the room and out of the house. Hermione followed close behind them, still giving Ron those pleading looks. _Please, Ron, please don't do this…._

_Harry was his best friend._

_Ron had always known that Harry Potter was a loner, somebody used to depending on themselves. He had a tendency to push other people away, especially when things got tough, and sometimes Ron wondered vaguely what would happen if he and Hermione hadn't decided to stay. If they'd given in, if they'd left him to face the darkness on his own. He always quickly shied away from those thoughts. _

_Unfortunately, this tendency of Harry's to push others away doubly extended to relationships. Ginny and Harry had finally got together- and then, just as suddenly, it ended. And it was plain to see Harry was crushed. Ron was startled to see how hard he took-after all, Harry was the one who broke it off, right?- but when he really thought about it, it made sense. Ron had plenty of people to turn to; his parents, his brothers, and Hermione of course. Who did Harry turn to when things got dark?_

So he'd yelled at Harry, of course, for breaking his sister's heart, and he'd extracted a promise of sorts from Harry that it wouldn't happen again. But the look on Harry's face as he'd said it….Ron never wanted to see that look again. It was like Harry had seen the death of all his hopes in Ron's eyes, and all of the happiness had drained away from his soul. Ron wondered uneasily just how attached they were to each other, if after such a short time spent together they took the breakup this hard.

_Ginny was his sister._

How could he let her get hurt again?

_Harry was his best friend._

How could he deny Harry the comfort he so desperately needed?

He watched Harry walk away, defeated, and knew that Ginny was probably still crying in her room. Hermione just looked at him helplessly. He thought that her face reflected his feelings pretty well at the moment- sad, angry, and desperately confused.

_Which side did he choose?_

Ron had never felt so torn.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, no idea where this fic came from. I was bored and thinking how it must suck to be Ron in that position. Although he handles it pretty well (for the most part).**

**So no one will die if you don't review, but I would appreciate it very much. I'll even reply this time.  
**


End file.
